


Not the end of the world

by victorfrankenwhale



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Gay Victor Frankenstein | Dr. Whale, Gen, Mad Whale Family, Mentioned Henry Clerval, Mentioned Henry Mills, Mentioned Henry Mills/Violet (Once Upon a Time), Mentioned Mad Hatter | Jefferson, Mentioned Violet (Once Upon a Time), Stepfather-Stepdaughter Bonding, Unrequited Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-10
Updated: 2017-05-10
Packaged: 2018-10-30 02:35:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10867251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/victorfrankenwhale/pseuds/victorfrankenwhale
Summary: Victor helps Grace with her first heartbreak.





	Not the end of the world

**Author's Note:**

> I’m just gonna post this before I hate it. I’m not sure where the idea for this came from... I mean I have had similar things happen, so... Also, I just wanted to write some cute stepdad/stepdaughter bonding.

Victor had moved in with Jefferson around a month ago. In that time, he hadn’t spent much time with Grace. It wasn’t that he was scared that Grace wouldn’t like him – she was kind and caring in a way that reminded Victor of his dear brother – he was just worried. His father hadn’t been the best (to put it nicely), and he wasn’t sure he could be anything close to a good father figure for Grace.

But Jefferson just laughed, and insisted that Victor at least try to bond with her. Victor agreed to do so – they did live in the same house now, and Victor and Jefferson had even been talking about the possibility of marriage. It really was important for them to get along.

So Victor decided to start with something easy: he would ask Grace if she needed any help with her science homework. It was a subject he was very comfortable with, and it would be easier than trying to just strike up a conversation out of the blue.

“Hey, Grace? I was just wondering if you needed any help with your homework…” Victor asked, standing at the door of Grace’s beautifully furnished bedroom. He trailed off when he noticed how upset the girl looked. “…Are you alright?”

Grace nodded, but her eyes were red and it looked like she’d been crying. That wasn’t like her.

“Are you sure?”

After a pause, she sighed and shook her head.

“You could, uh… talk to me about it?” Victor suggested, very awkwardly. The situation had the possibility of being much more awkward than simple science homework, but he couldn’t leave the poor girl so upset when her father wasn’t home.

“Okay.” Grace said, her voice not much louder than a whisper. “You can sit down, if you want.”

Victor did so, entering the room and sitting down on the chair next to Grace’s bed. He waited a few moments for her to begin speaking.

“I’m having problems with a boy…” she said, and when she blinked a few tears dripped down her cheeks.

Victor narrowed his eyes. “What boy? He’s not bullying you, is he?” As a child he was bullied quite a bit, being very awkward and not very athletic, unlike Gerhardt.

“No, no.” Grace said quickly, like the idea was ridiculous. “I… like him. A lot.”

“Oh.” Victor wasn’t so great with romantic advice – anyone watching _Good Morning Storybrooke_ would be able to vouch for that – and he definitely didn’t know what kind of advice to give to a thirteen-year-old. “What’s his name?”

“Henry Mills.”

“Emma’s kid?”

Grace nodded.

“Well, you’re best friends aren’t you? Isn’t it a good thing?”

“No. He doesn’t like me back,” Grace explained, “He has a girlfriend now.”

Victor blinked in shock. “Really?”

“Yeah. Her name’s Violet, and she’s from Camelot. She’s really nice and stuff but—”

“She’s dating the boy you like.”

“Yes.”

“Well, uh… you know, when I was your age, I had a crush on my best friend as well.” Victor didn’t usually tell people about this story, but he thought it might be helpful right now, even if it tended to make him a little upset.

Grace looked interested. “You did?”

“Yeah. And his name was also Henry.”

“Huh. That’s weird. What did you do? Did he like you too?”

“Uh, I never told him, because that could have landed me in trouble, and he only liked girls anyway.” Victor explained, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “But knowing that he didn’t like me made me feel awful.”

“Aww, that sucks.” Grace’s gaze dropped to the carpet below her.

“But my point is, when you like someone and they don’t like you back it’s not the end of the world, even if it feels like it.” Thirteen-year-old Victor had been devastated upon realising that he and Clerval would never be together, and angsted over it for months. But Grace was much more optimistic than he had been. “Even though he didn’t like me romantically, Clerval was a great friend, and I know that Henry cares about you a lot as well. You just have to keep going and keep being his friend.”

“I still wanna be his friend, but I get sad when I see him.”

“I know, but that will go away eventually. Soon, you’ll be back to just wanting to be his friend.” Victor didn’t want to tell Grace that Clerval had died. That probably wouldn’t be helpful for her. “And one day you’ll meet someone who you like and they’ll like you back.”

“Like you and Papa!” Grace finally cracked a smile.

“Yeah, exactly. So just be tough, alright? But if you need to talk about it… you can talk to me, or Jefferson.”

“I will!” She suddenly looked as if she was ready to take on the world, even with her tear stained face. It amazed Victor how quickly she could bounce back. Just like Gerhardt. “Thanks, Dr. Whale.”

“No problem. But call me Victor, alright?”

“Will do, Victor.”

She hopped off her bed, where she had been sitting, and pulled Victor up off the chair to give him a hug. It was a bit awkward for him at first, but Victor was glad that Grace liked him. That would make Jefferson happy.

“Oh, I almost forgot why I came to talk to you in the first place.” Victor said, after Grace stopped hugging him. “Do you need any help with your science homework? I could take a look at anything you don’t understand.”

“That would be great!” she grinned.

By the time Jefferson got home with dinner, Victor and Grace were happily having an interesting conversation about the cell structures of plants.

And Jefferson _was_ very happy.


End file.
